Happy Birthday, James
by SiriuslyGeorgia
Summary: It's James' 18th birthday and instead of throwing him a party, Sirius decided James and Lily should go on a first date.
1. 18th

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JK Rowling.**

_It's his birthday!_  
>We're just friends!<br>_He's been a friend for who's wanted more for years!_  
>He probably doesn't even want that now!<br>_But what if he does?  
><em>But what if he doesn't?  
><em>You can 'what if' all you like, Lily Evans, but it doesn't change the fact that you haven't got the boy a birthday present or that if you don't do it, he's not going to have any kind of proper eighteenth birthday celebration because -<br>_  
>Wait, did I just refer to myself as 'you'? Further proof that this whole situation is messing with my head. I knew I shouldn't have agreed when Sirius Black asked me to 'partake in James' birthday celebrations', but I did and the butterflies in my stomach were certainly agreeing with my spur-of-the-moment decision. However, at the time of Sirius' asking, I had no idea what exactly my part in the aforementioned celebrations would be and little did I know that I would be the only celebration, which was making the whole thing even more nerve-wracking. What if he laughs in my face and demands to know where the real party is?<p>

Merlin, I'm thoroughly overthinking this, aren't I? This is exactly why girls don't do the asking - they just smile and say 'yes' (not that I hadn't had my fair share of chances to say yes; I'm just an idiot).

"Five o'clock in the Entrance Hall and you'd better be there." said a voice in my ear and I rolled my eyes as Sirius took a seat next to me on the scarlet sofa. Psh! He thought I wasn't actually going to turn up (forgetting the fact that I'd been seriously considering it two minutes ago)?

"What does he know?" I asked.

"Who, James?" In response to my nod, he added, "Nothing."

Nothing? _Nothing? _So James could be expecting anything at all? What was I supposed to do; go up to him and say 'Unlike the past six years of your life, you're spending the evening of your birthday without a huge all-evening-all-night party and instead I'm dragging you away from all your friends. Come on then!' No? Didn't think so. If the boy had any sense, he'd bolt up to the common room and start his own party ASAP. I told Sirius of my fears and watched in dismay as he got up, laughed and strolled to the other side of the common room to sit with Remus and Peter. Yeah, he laughed and left straight after I confessed my fears. I didn't even get a sympathetic pat on the shoulder or anything.

"By the way, Evans, it's ten to five!"

Shit.

I decided I had time to shoot well deserved glares at the three Marauders cracking up at my misfortune (they just laughed harder), before I launched myself up the stairs leading up to the seventh year girls' dormitory. Luckily for me, there was no-one but me in the dorm, so I was able to replace my uniform with a black skirt and light blue blouse - not forgetting the tights and rather thick cloak I was also wearing. I know what you're thinking ('Why the hell are you wearing that? First dates equal dresses!'), but, seriously, whilst planning my outfit yesterday, I had to consider three things:  
>1) It's March. In Scotland. This means it's really rather chilly outside. Not to mention it's a Monday. Who dresses up on a Monday? No-one except the insane.<br>2) This is barely a date. It's merely a birthday present to my friend James that his friend Sirius suggested. Do you hear that, butterflies? Not. A. Date. Well, hardly anyway.  
>3) I don't even like James that way. I mean, he's funny, intelligent, loyal, sweet and very good looking, even when his hair's sticking out everywhere - which is every day, really. He used to be a bit of a twat, of course, but he's proved himself a good Head Boy and I really do like spending time with him, which is good because, being Head Girl, we do spend a lot of time together. Time which I find myself quite looking forward to... Oh, where was I? Right, yeah, I don't even like him that way. We're friends. Good friends. And will never end up anything more. Probably.<p>

4:56. Four minutes left; just time to brush my hair, put on a bit of make-up and leg it downstairs to the Entrance Hall. Five minutes later, I was just climbing out of the portrait hole. Oops. But, really, did anyone really expect me to be on time? I could hardly run down to the Entrance Hall and risk getting sweaty and out of breath, so I settled on a quick walk down the seven floors. When I reached the second floor, the anxiety kicked in. What am I supposed to say? What's even supposed to _happen_? Where do we go? Hogsmeade, obviously, but _where_? What do we do? Who pays? Traditionally, the boy pays, but what happens when it's the boy's birthday? I'm clearly supposed to pay, but if James insists on paying, should I let him or throw a tantrum? Then again, if James doesn't know what's happening then he probably won't have any money on him anyway, which will make things so much easier. Because my mind was elsewhere, I nearly walked straight through the Entrance Hall and out into the grounds until my attention was caught.

"You wouldn't happen to know what this surprise is that Sirius is so excited about, do you?"

I swivelled round and saw James leaning casually against the stone wall wearing a cloak not unlike my own. Oh bugger, I hadn't answered any of my own questions. On the upside, James looked happy to see me stood in the Entrance Hall instead of one of his best friends. He was smiling, anyway.

"As a matter of fact, I do know." I told James, moving over to lean on the wall next to him. He turned his head to me, still smiling.

"Care to share?"

As long as you don't reject me and leave me stood here all embarrassed.

"Well, you see, you and I are going to Hogsmeade."

James looked confused for a moment, raising his eyebrows as he processed what I had said. Then, suddenly, a huge grin appeared on his face.

"You mean like on a _date_?"

He said the word so disbelievingly that I thought he was going to walk away from me, despite the grin.

"Er – well, not really. If you don't want to go, then it's fine." I had taken a few steps back towards the corridor when James grabbed my wrist, causing me to turn back towards him with a flushed face. His own face was missing a grin.

"Are you _serious_?" he said slowly, "Was that a joke?"

I just asked him out (well, basically told him we were going on a date) and he thought I was _joking_?

"No? I mean – yes, I'm serious and no, that wasn't a joke. We're supposed to be going to Hogsmeade, but as I said, it's fine if you don't want to."

"I've been waiting for this exact moment for three years, and you think I don't want to go?" The grin was back on his face and he looked almost giddy with excitement.

"So you do want to go?" I asked, hoping he would clear my confused mind with his answer.

"Of course I do, you idiot!" said James, and I punched him lightly on the shoulder, though it was a bit obvious I didn't mean it as I was grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"So, are we going then?" I asked, motioning towards the front doors.

"Just give me a minute." he said, and I leaned back against the wall. "By the way, we can't just waltz out the front doors unless you want Filch to convince Dumbledore to let him test out his new torture equipment on us."

Maybe I should've thought of that one…

"Well you're the Marauder – lead the way!"

"Just give me a minute." repeated James.

"Why?"

"I'm still trying to get my head round this."

I considered saying 'What's there to get your head round? We're going on a date and you're going to like it' but I thought that may be considered rude, so I settled on nodding whilst trying to look understanding.

"Let me get this straight, you asked me to Hogsmeade, so technically, _you're_ taking _me_ out on a date? Ouch, that's hurting my manly pride, that is."

Oh, stupid, nonsensical 'manly pride'.

"Technically, I never asked you properly, I just told you we were going."

James' eyes lit up behind his glasses at the chance to regain his 'manly pride'.

"So, Lily Evans, would you like to come on a date with me to Hogsmeade? Bear in mind it's my birthday, so you can't say no."

I laughed and said, "I would be delighted. I can't possibly deny you and your manliness, especially on this very special day."

"Could you just say: 'I, Lily Evans, am being taken out on a date by one James Potter because he is marvellous and super manly'?"

I, Lily Evans, am being taken out on a date by one James Potter because he is marvellous and super manly, but I'm not going to let him hear me say it.

"Why don't we just go on the bloody date?"

"Aye aye, captain!" said James with a mock salute. He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the corridor leading back into school. "We can go in through a secret passage and then we'll never get caught."

I would've replied, but I noticed that James was still holding my hand. I realised I quite liked the feel of his hand in mine and didn't pull away. The butterflies in my stomach were seriously threatening to burst out, and when James slightly squeezed my hand, I think I died (okay – maybe a slight exaggeration there). We had just reached the fourth floor when I stopped walking, causing James to stop moving too. He looked at me quizzically.

"I haven't said 'happy birthday' to you yet, have I?" I said, frowning to myself.

"You just did."

I rolled my eyes at his comment and dropped his hand, though I was still smiling. I stood up on my tip-toes and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Happy birthday, James." I whispered into his ear, before dropping a quick kiss onto his lips. Before he could respond, I detangled my arms from his neck and dropped back onto my heels. I took hold of his hand again and nudged him forwards. "Where's this secret passageway, then?"

**A/N: Sorry this is bad – I just wanted something up for James' birthday! Sometime in the hopefully near future, I'll upload a second part that will include the actual date! Please review, favourite etc. Thanks for reading!**


	2. 19th

**Authors note: Wow, it's been a year, so, this takes place a year after the first one. Happy James' Birthday!**

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JKR, except my words!**

Despite my protests, James was taking me out for dinner. I'd argued that it was his birthday, so I should be the one treating him, instead of the other way around. He'd shot back that it was our one year anniversary, so of course he would be paying and choosing where we spend the evening. To this, I had responded that we could at least compromise, since I was in the relationship too.  
>Ignoring my 'sexist pig' remarks, James remained adamant, instructing me to dress nicely for the night ahead.<p>

An hour later, I was dressed and ready for a nice date with my boyfriend, which was exactly why his waltzing into the room carrying a blindfold was unexpected.  
>"Put this on, Evans." said James, thrusting the offending object at me.<br>"Why?" I sighed.  
>"Because I said so," he retorted. After seeing my face, he quickly added, "I just want it to be a surprise!"<br>Grudgingly, I agreed and tied the fabric over my eyes.  
>As I waited for James to lead me out of the door, I felt his hand on my arm followed by the ever-sickening pull of apparition.<br>"Give me some warning next time!" I scolded as I stumbled slightly, both blind and disorientated.  
>"Sorry." said James, though he didn't sound very sorry.<br>I felt a cold breeze, and gravel crunched under my feet as James slowly walked me forward.  
>"Where are we?"<br>"Guess."

I could smell a trace of sugar in the air and the faint ring of shop bells mixed with distant, high-pitched chatter reached my ears. Suddenly, I knew exactly where we were.  
>"We're in Hogsmeade, aren't we?" It was so like James to pick the site of our first date for our anniversary. Or, more likely, picked the place where I continuously turned him down for years, just to show the village that I finally agreed and our relationship had lasted a whole year.<br>"Damn, I hoped it might've taken you a little longer to guess; you look so cute when you're frustrated." said James, and I could practically hear the smirk in his voice.  
>Too preoccupied, I assumed, with looking at me, James didn't bother to navigate me away from a lamppost. I reached up to pull the blindfold off, but James' hand caught mine and lowered it back to my side.<br>"There's that cute look," he said as put his arm around me, either to steer me better or claim me as his to anyone who might be around.

A few seconds later, James reached forward; I heard a door open and he pulled me inside a building. Immediately, I could tell that we were stood in the Three Broomsticks pub due to the familiar rush of heat that I was always grateful for during my time at Hogwarts.  
>However, the sight that greeted me when James removed my blindfold was unfamiliar. It was obviously the Three Broomsticks, but only a single table decorated with a vase of roses stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by what seemed like hundreds of candles floating in mid-air.<br>"You did all this?" I asked James in disbelief. I tore my gaze away from the room and looked at my boyfriend, who was nervously surveying my reaction.  
>"Well…"<br>"As much as I'd like to say Mr Potter here did all the work, I fear it would inflate his ego, so I helped." commented a voice, which I saw belonged to the young barmaid.

"Rosmerta," greeted James, "always a pleasure."  
>Madame Rosmerta enveloped James into a hug, and did the same to me – she smelt of butterbeer and chocolate.<br>"Just you two this evening," she informed us with a smile and a wink in James' direction. "I'll leave you kids to it."  
>She strolled back into the kitchen, which was hidden behind a mountain of candles.<br>"Shall we?" asked James, offering me his arm.

The meal was perfect. James had ensured that we had our dessert first – chocolate cake – as per my preference. The butterbeer was warm, the food delicious, and the company magnificent. Rosmerta kept to her word, leaving James and I alone; she didn't even personally serve our food. Preferring not to mention the arising dark wizard, our conversations were mostly reminiscent, fondly remembering our times at Hogwarts and all the memories we had made for ourselves since we left.

After our main course was magically cleared away, I reached for my coat.  
>"We're not leaving yet, Lily, there's one more thing I'd like to give you." James' voice sounded serious, I looked up at him worriedly, and saw he looked nervous.<br>"But we gave our presents this morning…"  
>"I know, I know, I just need to do this one thing. Close your eyes."<br>Hesitantly, I did as he said. The bright of the candles burned behind my closed lids. Why was he being so secretive? A rustling sound came from his end of the table, followed by the scraping of his chair. Oh God, was he leaving?  
>"Open," commanded James. His voice was much closer than I expected.<br>I opened my eyes. Blinking a few times, I willed my vision to come into focus faster.

Oh God, oh God, oh God.

This messy haired, hazel eyed, amazing, _idiot _was on one knee. Holding a ring, smiling anxiously, James Potter was proposing to me.  
>Instead of looking into his eyes, I focused on the reflection of the flames flickering in his glasses.<br>"What – Why –" I spluttered.  
>"Lily Evans, will you marry me?"<br>"James, you cannot be serious!"  
>He looked crestfallen for only a moment, before replacing the expression with one of well-faked humour. "Of course I'm not Sirius – I'm James."<br>I put my head in my hands, mostly blocking out my view of him. "Please… Just sit back on the chair."  
>Slowly, he rose, placed the ring on the table – it was a beautiful diamond set in silver stone – and lowered himself into his chair, not taking his eyes off me the whole time.<br>"We can't, James, you know we can't."  
>This time, he didn't even bother to hide his heart-breaking expression. "Why not?"<br>"We're only nineteen for starters!" I removed one of my hands from my face, but kept the other on my cheek.  
>"Plenty of people are getting married young these days, take the McKinn –" James started, but I interrupted him.<br>"They're getting married because we're in the middle of a war!" I burst out.  
>"I don't care! That's more of a reason to, I love you, and I'm going to marry you someday. I won't let that be taken away from me by Voldemort!" retorted James fiercely.<br>"I love you too, you know that, but I'm a muggle-born. Any association with me is threatening; being my husband is a death sentence!"  
>What I didn't add was: But I don't care, because marrying you has been all I've wanted for a while now.<br>"They want me to join their side; they're not likely to kill me. Besides, I can take care of myself."  
>The determined glint in James' eyes was growing more steely by the second.<br>"You're too arrogant, James. Marry me, and they won't care about your skill or blood status. You'll be a traitor, and everyone you love will be targeted."  
>"I already am a traitor! The only threat will be to me. My parents are dead, my friends are already worse than I am – Sirius with his own family, Remus is a werewolf and Pete, well, they won't be bothered about him."<br>"I can't let you do it James; you'll be throwing your life away." My voice was soft, and tears were starting to pool in my eyes.  
>James got up from his place and knelt next to my chair, folding my hands into his larger, calloused ones.<br>"My life is nothing without you, Lily. I'm not going to let this war stop me from what I want to do. I know this is impulsive, but I know I'm ready, and I think you are too." His tone was pleading, but I unlaced my fingers from his and stood.  
>"I can't have your murder on my hands. I'm sorry, but it's safer for us both if we just end this now. Don't draw attention to yourself, and you'll be fine. I'll move abroad until this is all over."<br>I made my way over to the door, tears dropping thick and fast. Just as I wrenched the door open, James' arm slammed it shut. Grabbing my shoulders, he turned me to face him.  
>"That's not what you want. You want to fight, and you want to fight with me by your side. We're not letting Voldemort win. You're the most amazing person I've ever met, and there's no-one I'd rather spend the rest of my life with."<br>"You are the stupidest, most arrogant, determined man I've ever met." I whispered.  
>"But you love me anyway?" He asked hopefully.<br>I took a deep breath and nodded.  
>Crashing his lips against mine, James tangled one hand in my hair and used the other to summon the ring from the table to his hand. When we finally pulled away, my face clear of tears, James pressed the ring in my hand.<br>"Put this on, _Potter_."  
>I did as he said. It fit perfectly.<p>

**Author's note: Written in about two hours, rushed so forgive me for mistakes and total crap-ness!  
><strong> 


	3. 20th

After I step into the cottage, I heave a sigh and lean against the door. As I reset the safety spells for what seems like the millionth time, I notice a pair of shoes on the stairs that weren't there when I left this morning. I push myself off the door and walk slowly into the living room. My mug from my morning coffee is still on the table, and the book I was reading last night sits on the arm of the sofa where I left it. The fireplace sits empty and cold.

My heart deflates, and I move towards the fire in the hopes that it will bring some heat into the cold, lonely house. Just as I reach my hand out, roaring flames erupt amongst the coals. I spin around, lifting my wand instinctively.

It's James.

He leans against the kitchen doorframe with an unbelievably wide grin on his face. I launch myself into his arms, and he stumbles back slightly, laughing.

"Happy birthday, James," I say into his shoulder.

He kisses my forehead. "Happy anniversary, Lily."

I inch my head back so I can look him in the eye. "I thought you weren't supposed to be back until Sunday? Is everyone okay?"

"Everything's fine," he assures me quickly. "Turned out it wasn't a death eater hideout like Moody thought – I think he's getting a bit paranoid."

I tighten my arms around his neck. "I'm so glad you're back, but I wish I could help fight."

James' voice turns stern. "You know you can't."

"I know," I sigh. "It frustrates me that I can't do my bit."

"We've already narrowly avoided him once; I think a second time would give me a heart attack." James frowns slightly, and my thoughts go back to the time we were nearly killed.

The first time we were barely out of Hogwarts, on one of our first missions for the Order. Nobody expected 15 death eaters to track our whereabouts, or Voldemort himself to turn up. James' arm was broken in a struggle with Rabastan Lestrange, but apart from that everyone was unharmed.

James clears his throat and his smile returns. He guides me towards the table, which is adorned with a fancy tablecloth. I grin as he lights a candle and places a single rose on the table.

"Haven't even laid the table properly? You're slacking, James Potter," I tease.

He places a knife, fork and spoon at the side of my plate. "Dare I remind you that it's my birthday, Lily Potter?"

I roll my eyes, knowing he'd insist I sat down if I tried to help. "I believe you made it clear last year that our anniversary is more important."

James nods in agreement. "What will it be?" he asks, holding up a goblet. "Firewhiskey?"

I laugh. "Firewhiskey would be lovely, thanks."

I'm not surprised when he places pumpkin juice in front of me instead. "No alcohol for you."

I glance down at my stomach and smile at the bump sitting there – the reason for James' overprotectiveness. That's our baby in there. My smile grows wider still as James leans down to tenderly touch the bump before taking his seat across from me, firewhiskey in hand.

"So you're allowed to drink alcohol and I'm not?" I ask.

James looks pointedly at my belly. "I'm not the one with child," he says, then his face softens and he adds, "If it makes you feel better though, I won't drink."

As I raise my eyebrows, he places the goblet down. He takes one look at me, laughs, then picks the goblet back up and drains all of the liquid.

"Well, at least you tried," I say before drinking my own juice. "I hope you're planning a feast – I'm eating for two, you know."

James tries to look shocked but his smirk shines through. "You mean you're not cooking for me on my birthday?"

I tilt my head and glare at my husband. "I'm giving birth in four months. I deserve a slave."

"We're going to the Three Broomsticks, it _is _tradition."

James gets to his feet and offers me his hand. He pulls me up and we make our way to the door. As he puts on his shoes, my wide grin falters slightly. "Is it safe?"

We usually have to avoid wizarding locations, as they're Death Eater hotspots – and the Death Eaters seem to have a bit of an obsession with me and James. Just a few months ago we had a bit of a crisis whilst attempting to discover if any of the personnel in the Department of Magical Transportation were on Voldemort's side. The short answer was yes. We escaped, though, and relayed important information to the Order.

Shortly after that, I got knocked up and haven't been able to partake in any Order action since.

"Of course it is," he says as he pulls the door open and gestures for me to walk through. "It's not as if they'll have any reason to attack us even if they see us."

Feeling mollified, I re-perform the safety spells as James closes the door behind him. He takes me by Side-Along Apparition as you're not supposed to do it directly if you're pregnant.

We find a secluded booth in the moderately crowded pub and order dessert first. Over cheesecake, we discuss Sirius, Remus and Peter. Having been to see Remus earlier, I tell James that he wasn't quite healed from last week's full moon and is still bedbound.

"I hope you didn't get up to anything."

"Well, with him being confined to his bed it was too good of an opportunity to miss," I tease.

He laughs and, as I finish my cheesecake and most of his, tells me all about Sirius' ridiculous plan to get a side-car for his motorcycle to carry my baby.

"Over my dead body," I gasp.

James' mouth opens to respond, but his eyes flick to the door behind me and his face drops. Placing a hand on my shoulder, he stands up. "Stay here," he says quietly, then removes his hand.

Anxiously, I crane my head to watch as he makes his way to the door and steps through it, only looking back at me once to mouth 'Don't move'. Of course, as soon as he's gone I push myself to my feet and retrace his steps, edging my wand out of my pocket and into my hand as I go. I pause at the door to take a deep breath, one hand covering my bump before tightening my cloak around myself and exiting the pub.

At first, I don't see anything but storefronts. I glance around, raising my wand and still don't see anything. I walk to the right. From an alleyway, I hear the sound of curses being thrown. Holding my wand high, I dash into the alley. A masked face is battling a man with his back to me. James.

Firing a few of my own curses, I run to stand next to James, who spares me an exasperated glance, as if he'd actually expected me to stay inside.

The Death Eater is clearly inexperienced, sending a multitude of coloured spells towards us, (at me mostly – being the mudblood). Green is the only colour I don't see; he's not aiming to kill. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a slash appear on James' forearm, but nothing worse. With the two of us, we manage to get the Death Eater on the floor with a well-timed Disarm from me and a Stunning Spell from James.

"Would it kill you to stay put for once?" he asks.

I grab his arm and heal it with my wand, thanking Merlin it wasn't dark magic. "No, but it might kill you."

That shuts him up. From his pocket, James fishes out his mirror and passes it to me wordlessly as he approaches the Death Eater to tie him up.

"Sirius Black!" I cry into the mirror as I pace the alley.

I'm greeted by a view of the inside of a cloak before Sirius' face appears, looking confused. "Hey, Lily. What's– "

I cut him off. "We're in Hogsmeade, and a Death Eater attacked us. Merlin knows if there's any more around."

From behind me, James yells. "At least one ran down here before I got to the other one, he must've Disapparated."

Troubled comprehension dawns on Sirius' face. His eyebrows knit together and a scowl forms. "Are you okay? All three of you?"

Glancing down at my belly, I nod. "Yeah." I angle the mirror so he can see James conjuring ropes. The mask is off the Death Eater, and I recognise him as a Slytherin who was a year below us at Hogwarts. My expression mirrors the one of disgust on both James and Sirius' faces. "Just get the Order."

"Right," he says, and his face becomes even more serious. "Be careful."

My own reflection reappears in the mirror so I tuck it back into my own pocket as James finishes tying up the boy with ropes covering almost every inch of him.

"I don't know who I hate more: that" –James nudges the boy with his foot– "or the bastard that forced him to do this."

I wrap my arms around James and breathe in his comforting scent. "The bastard, definitely."

Closing his eyes, James hugs me tightly. Then, without warning, both of our wands go flying out of our hands. We spring apart, now alert, but it's no use as three masked Death Eaters face us; three wands pointing at James, one at me. Our wands lay, useless, at either side of the alley.

One of the men moves behind us, and one of the others commands we turn around, so we do. There's not much else we can do. With one man leading and two following, we are forced down the alley, which suddenly seems ten times narrower.

"So, where are you fine gentlemen taking us?" James asks breezily. When I give him a bewildered look, he widens his eyes at me and lowers his gaze to my – bump? If he thinks I'm not freaking out about the baby right now, he's so very wrong. After a few seconds, I realise.

"Shut your mouth, Potter," one of the men behind demands.

Taking no heed, James carries on talking loudly, asking the men how they are and asking them what they think about the weather. I use the distraction to fish the mirror out of my pocket and hold it up to my chest.

"This one time, me and," his voice rises, "Sirius Black – you know Sirius Black, right?"

One of the Death Eaters grunts. I look down at the mirror, and see no reflection of my own. The glass is black, as if Sirius put it back inside his cloak.

"Anyway, we were being chased by Muggle police and Sirius tells me to shut the hell up," James says, raising his voice again. Sirius' face is in the mirror now, and he seems to have got the message as he is silent, but the crease between his eyebrows looks deeper than ever. I flip the mirror around so he's got a good view of where we're walking. We seem to be approaching the end of the alley, which is longer than it first looked, and it leads to some kind of small, abandoned building. Great.

When we near the door of the building, the door swings open and I barely have time to stow the mirror back in my cloak. I grab James' hand.

Upon entering the building, I'm greeted by a thick curtain of dust and little light. We've barely stepped through the door when we're ordered to halt. I think I can hear the soft sounds of a snake slithering around the floor. He's here, then.

As soon as I think it, a high, clear voice comes from the depths of the room. "Welcome, James and _Lily Potter_." He snarls my name only, and I know it's because he hates the idea of the Potter blood line being _contaminated_.

From beside me, James sighs irritably. "We were on a date, you know, so it would be great if you sped this up a little."

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Instead, I just squeeze James' hand as hard as I can.

"Congratulations on the baby," Voldemort continues, as if James had never spoken. His voice seems disembodied, as if it's coming from everywhere. "You must be so proud."

My blood boils. "We are," I say coldly.

"I wanted to extend to you both the opportunity to join me."

James actually laughs. I glance at him and, in the low light I can see amusement in his eyes. I want to scream at him that now isn't the time, but I also want to join in. "Never."

There's a few seconds of quiet; I can hear the faint murmurings of a group of Death Eaters to the side of the room, but they take no action on James' rudeness. Perhaps they have orders not to.

"Now, now, you know I'll have to kill you both if you refuse, and the baby."

The amusement in James' eyes is lost immediately. His other hand moves to sit protectively over the bump. My heart is going to burst out of my chest. "That's tempting," I say, buying time.

"What exactly are your health benefits?" Oh, James.

Voldemort laughs shortly. "The health benefits are the reward of your lives."

He's definitely going to kill us now. I take a step backward, ready to risk running.

The door bursts open, knocking me down and tearing my hand from James'. From the floor, I watch as a dozen Order members crash into the room, firing curses as they go. James is by my side in an instant, thrusting my wand into my hand and pulling me up.

"Sirius got them off the floor," he answers in return to my unspoken question. Flying curses light up the room. I let James pull me out of the building and barely register when he Apparates us to Remus' apartment. He leads me inside onto a sofa and checks me over.

"You're fine," he says undoubtedly. "The baby's fine, I'm sure of it."

I put my head in my hands. "Just give me a minute."

James nods understandingly and retreats into Remus' room, where I can hear him retelling the night's events to the bedbound werewolf. Long minutes pass before Sirius and Peter enter. Sirius takes in my shell-shocked appearance and just tells me there were no injuries on our side before they both join James and Remus.

Even though I want nothing more to retreat to the safety of my own bed in my own house, I go into Remus' room and join my husband and his – my – friends. That's the second time we've directly escaped Voldemort, and probably the last, so I throw myself headfirst into the already joking conversations and I kiss James full on despite complaints from Peter.

What Voldemort wants is for his enemies to break apart, but when I'm with my family – Peter, Remus, Sirius, and James and our baby – it seems as if maybe our bond alone can defeat the most evil wizard of all time.

A/N: I know this isn't the best, but it's becoming tradition to write a chapter each year, right on James' birthday so it was rushed as I'm super busy. Still, I hoped you enjoyed it at least!


	4. 21st

The cries filtered into James' sleeping brain and he was awake before he realised what was happening. Automatically, his hand grabbed for his wand on the bedside table before he realised he and his wife weren't in any danger – their baby was crying.

Instead of his wand, James picked up his glasses and detangled himself from Lily, taking a moment to appreciate her sleeping form.

He padded into the next room; it was painted blue by his own hand, but in the darkness he had to rely on his instincts and Harry's cries to navigate the room.

"Shhhhh," James cooed as he lifted up his son. "It's alright, Harry, you're safe." James didn't know if he'd pinpointed the reason his son was crying, but he'd heard that babies picked up on emotions – if that was true, Harry would have plenty of reasons for nightmares.

After a few moments of James rocking Harry in his arms, the child fell quiet. Usually, once Harry fell asleep again, James would return to bed as soon as he could, but tonight he kept hold of his son. He could make out the shape of Harry's nose in the dim light shining through the curtains – it was amazing how James' genes had contributed to that nose. When Sirius met Harry for the first time, he had told James excitedly that Harry had James' nose. James couldn't see it then; he'd assumed Sirius – who wasn't yet entirely comfortable with the idea of a baby around – was saying what he thought the new parents would want to hear. Now, though, as James looked down at a smaller version of his own nose, he wondered if Sirius had been speaking truthfully or if he'd made an extremely lucky guess.

"Hey." Lily's soft voice came from behind. Careful not to disturb a now soundly sleeping Harry, James turned, squinting beneath his glasses. Lily was stood in the doorway, her features bathed in the harsh light her wand was emitting.

"I was going to let you sleep in for once," James complained. "Can't you ever do what you're told?"

Lily rubbed at her eyes. "You've known me for, what, ten years now? And if you still don't know the answer to that question, I'm afraid we'll have to divorce."

James cradled Harry closer to his chest. "Don't say such things in front of the child."

"_The child_ has a name," Lily said quietly, coming closer. She placed her wand on the windowsill, so her and James could see each-other, but Harry wouldn't be disturbed by the light. "_Your_ child, even."

"Yes, but Harry is ever so common."

Lily sighed in mock-exasperation and put her head on James' shoulder. "I've told you, we cannot change our son's name to Elvendork."

"Fine." James turned his head so his lips were almost touching Lily's hair. "The next one, then."

Lily's hand trailed to her lower abdomen. "You're thinking about the next one already?"

James nodded. "A girl, I think."

A moment passed, and then another. James began to wonder if he'd said the wrong thing. Maybe she was dead set against having another child. "Well," she whispered eventually. "Good thing Elvendork's unisex."

She placed her hand gingerly on Harry's dark hair, her index finger stroking along his head. They – the three of them, a family – stayed like that for a while; their breathing the only sounds.

Then, Lily inhaled sharply and stood straight.

James' heart started beating faster but he tried to stay calm for Harry's sake. "What? Lily, what's wrong?"

She turned to look at him and he thought he could see light glinting off her teeth as she grinned. "Happy birthday, James!"

A laugh escaped James' lips, and it was enough to cause Harry's eyes to spring open, but he didn't make a sound. "I didn't even realise," James remarked. Now that he thought about it, it had definitely been St. Patrick's Day the week before – Sirius had charmed everything in the house to glow bright green, much to Harry's amusement. "Merlin, that's come quick."

"This time last year…"

James knew what she was referring to immediately. "We're safe, Lily, we're hidden," he said firmly, his voice slightly louder than before.

When Lily spoke, she sounded as if she was reciting a poem she'd heard thousands of times. "Born to those who have thrice defied him."

"Stop it," pleaded James, "we can only deal with what's happening now."

To demonstrate his point, James held Harry closer to his wife. Their son reached out his chubby arms and grabbed at the air with his hands until his mum lifted him up. She took a deep breath and ducked her head to look at Harry.

"Is your daddy an old man now?" Lily cooed. "Is he going to start going grey and telling his grandchildren how much better things were back in the day?"

Harry gurgled happily.

"I think grandchildren are quite far off yet, Lil."

Lily looked up at her husband. "I think it'll come sooner than we think," she said with conviction. "Before we know it, they'll be Harry Juniors running around and terrorising us."

James smirked. "Harry's barely had chance to terrorise us, never mind his children."

"We've got plenty of time to be run ragged by this one," she said just as Harry closed his eyes again.

"I say we enjoy the time before he starts running and we have to start chasing."

"But James, you're such an excellent chaser."

James bent down to kiss Harry on the forehead and then did the same to his wife. He put an arm around her waist and lightly rested his chin on her head. "Your jokes are terrible, but I'm glad I married you nonetheless. Happy anniversary, Mrs Potter."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Wow, I wrote the first chapter of this three years ago and here I am posting about James' final birthday. The chapters are all written completely differently, and reading over it is like some embarrassing timeline of my writing – feels a bit like the end of an era. Thanks to everyone for managing this menagerie, leave a review and tell me which chapter's writing style you like best!**


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